Method and means for forming dental root canal sealer with dimension indicating code

ABSTRACT

A root canal sealer and cleaner provided with a dimension discriminating part at their heads so as to discriminate the dimension easily, and a method and device for forming the dimension discriminating part on the root canal sealer and cleaner. 
     According to the root canal sealer and cleaner of the invention, a coloring part having a hue for indicating the required dimension is formed directly at the head gripped by an operating tool such as pincers, etc., at the time of the root canal cleaning and sealing treatment of a tooth, so that it is possible to indicate the dimension by each root canal sealer and cleaner itself, to discriminate easily and exactly the dimension of each root canal sealer and cleaner, and to distinguish it from those of different standards even when it is mixed with them in the course of operation. Thereby it is possible to use exactly the root canal sealers and cleaners of required standards, to eliminate various post-treatment impediment factors incidental to use of root canal sealers and cleaners of improper standards, and to carry out a perfect cleaning and tight sealing.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 196,007 filed May 19,1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,322.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to root canal sealers and cleaners havingdimension indications to permit easy identification of their dimensions,and also to a method and means for forming dimension indications on theroot canal sealers and cleaners.

When corrosion of a decayed tooth reaches the dental pulp, root canaltreatment becomes necessary. This involves removing the nerves andcapillary vessels of the tooth, cleaning the hollow neural tube part orroot canal of the tooth with a root canal cleaner, and filling thehollow tooth with an airtight root canal sealer.

Such root canal cleaning and filling is the basis of normal clinicaltreatment. If the root canal filling is not perfect, a dead cavity mayresult. The latter may affect the clinical process and ultimately damagethe surrounding periodontal tissue and become occasion for the loss ofthe tooth.

Dental root canal sealers generally use various therapeutic materialssuch as gum resin, gutta percha points, silver points, or othermaterials depending upon the purpose and quality of the sealer. Paperpoints often serve as a cleaning material.

Root canal cleaners and sealers are normally in the form of needleswhose front ends are thin and whose diameters increase gradually towardsthe heads on the opposite sides. Such tapered root canal sealers andcleaners are manufactured in various sizes having front diametersbetween 0.15 mm and 1.4 mm available in steps of 0.05 mm. Thus, adentist may select and use the optimal dimensions depending upon thesize of the root canal. The length of such root canal sealers andcleaners are standardized at approximately 28 to 30 mm. In general,sealers and cleaners have the same substantial shape. Only the sealer isdescribed by way of illustration of the present invention.

Cleaners may have the same shapes and features as the sealers and may bemanufactured in the same manner as the sealers. However, the term sealeris intended to be limited to sealers per se.

Because the differences in the sizes of the dental sealers is so small,it is impossible to discriminate between sealers of different sizes withthe naked eye. The manufacturing and packing processes attempt to permitone to discriminate between their sizes by marking the dimension on theboxes containing a prescribed number of root canal sealers. Anothermethod of permitting identification is to attach color coding labelssuch as red, blue, green, black, white, yellow, etc., labels on suchboxes or containers.

However, these methods of dimension indication on a container or boxcreates problems when root canals sealers having small size differencesbecome mixed up. This makes it impossible for one to distinguish themand, if they are misused, they adversely affect the root canal fillingand treatment. Hence, misclassification may negatively impact clinicalprocesses after treatment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The principal object of the invention is to provide a root canal sealerwith a dimension indicator to root canal sealers of different dimensionmore easily and exactly than with the naked eye.

It is another object of the invention to provide, in forming a dimensiondiscriminating part for indicating the standard on the root canalsealer, a method and device for forming a dimension discriminating partwith a selected hue at the head of a root canal sealer using a dentalinstrument in which a prescribed number of root canal sealer arearranged and held.

According to the present invention, the dimension indicator is formed ina preselected hue at the head of a root canal sealer so that thedimension of the root canal sealer is identified easily by the hue ofthe dimension indicator.

The dimension discriminating part formed at the head of a root canalsealer can be colored at a time the head of each root canal sealer bypassing through a simple coloring process using the body of a dentalinstrument of simple structure in which a certain number of root canalsealers are arranged and held, and a pressing plate to be covered on theupper part of the body of dental instrument.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, characteristics and other advantages of the inventionappear in the following detailed description of an example, withreference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a root canal sealer according to theinvention,

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a root canal sealer shown inFIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a dental instrument according to theinvention,

FIGS. 4 to 6 show a forming process of a dimension discriminating partaccording to a method of the invention,

FIG. 6A is a detail of a portion of FIG. 6.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are views illustrating the process to expose and arrangein a specified length the heads of root canal sealers contained in adental instrument according to the invention,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a process to cover a pressing platefor preventing a movement in a state that the head of a root canalsealer is exposed in the front of a dental instrument according to theinvention, and

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a process to form a dimensiondiscriminating part by soaking the head of an arranged and fixed rootcanal sealer in the coloring ink containing in a tray by means of adental instrument and a pressing plate according to the invention,

FIG. 7 is an elevation view showing a state that a number of dentalinstruments according to the invention are laminated,

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line VIII--VIII in FIG. 7, and

FIG. 9 is sectional view taken on the line IX--IX in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which are a perspective view and alongitudinal sectional view of a root canal sealer according to theinvention, the root canal sealer P according to the invention comprisesa head P' formed at the back end of the body in a needle form taperedslightly through the whole length, and a dimension discriminating oridentifying part C in a hue for indicating a selected standard, formedon the surface of the head P'.

As is shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the root canal sealer of the inventionwith a dimension discriminating part C of the hue for indicating thestandard is manufactured by making use of a dental instrument 1. Thelatter includes a dental instrument body 10 in a rectangular plate formhaving V-form concave grooves 11 adapted to receive a number of rootcanal sealers are formed continuously, and a pressing plate 20. Thelatter covers the upper part of the body 10 and has almost the samewidth and length as the dental instrument body 10.

Each concave groove 11 formed in said dental instrument body 10 isformed across the direction of the width of the body 10. One end of eachconcave groove 11 is open to the front side of the body 10, and theopposite end is blocked by an intercepting wall 12 formed along thedirection of its length at the rear side of the body 10. Verticalgrooves 13 and 14 having prescribed width and depth are formed parallelto each other along the length of the body 10 between the interceptingwall 12 and the rear side of each concave groove 11, and in the insideof the front side of each concave groove 11.

Each end of thus formed dental instrument body 10 is in the form of aknob 15. The upper inside face near the knob contains or handle insertgrooves 16 having a given depth at a given intervals. Both ends of thebottom of the dental instrument body 10 have downwardly extending insertprojections 17 corresponding to the insert grooves 16. The front of thebody 10 includes vertical projections 18 corresponding to the verticalgrooves 14 on the the front.

The bottom of the pressing plate 20 covering the upper part of thedental instrument body 10 supports a pressing member 21 consisting ofsoft elastic material such as sponge, and the like. As the pressingplate 20 covers the body 10, the pressing member 21 on the bottompresses and fixes the upper face of the root canal sealers P arranged ineach concave groove 11 of the body 10 ends of the plate 20 form a handleor knob 22 corresponding to the knob 15 of the body 10 23 on the bottomof the plate 22 are arranged to enter one on the other insert groove 16on the body 10.

In FIGS. 4A and 4B a stopper block 30 serves for exposing a specifiedlength of the head P' of each root canal sealer P inserted in eachconcave groove 11 of said dental instrument body 10. Reference numeral82 represents an upper plate of a worktable, and 40 in FIG. 6 representsa tray containing the coloring ink I.

The method to form a coloring part for indicating the dimension of theroot canal sealer using the dental instrument of the invention.

In each V-form concave grooves 11 of the dental instrument body 10according to the invention receives a certain number of root canalsealers P having a standard of the same dimension. As shown in FIG. 3,the head P' of each root canal sealer P is positioned in the inside ofthe end of open side of each concave groove 11, so that it is positionedat a prescribed distance in front of the stopper block 30, stepped jaw31 on the front of the block 30 has a prescribed width and height, thatis, a width of about 3 mm and the same height as the bottom of theconcave groove 11 of the dental instrument body 10 as shown in FIG. 4A,the body 10 of dental instrument is pushed forward slightly, and thefront of the dental instrument body 10 contacts the front face of thestepped jaw 31 of the stopper block 30 several times, the root canalsealer P inserted in each concave groove 11 projects out toward thefront of the dental instrument body 10 by the inertia incidental to anadvance of the dental instrument body 10 as shown in FIG. 4B. The headP' contacts a vertical wall 32 of the upper inside of the stepped jaw31. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the head P' of root canal sealer Pinserted in each concave groove 11 is thereby uniformly exposed as muchas a prescribed length (a length of about 3 mm equal to the width of thestepped jaw 31) in the front of the dental instrument body 10.

In this state, when the projection 23 on the bottom of the pressingplate 20 is brought in line with the insert groove 16 of the dentalinstrument body 10 by putting the pressing plate 20 on the upper face ofthe dental instrument body 10, and at the same time the knobs 15, 22 ofboth ends in contact with each other are grasped by hands, the pressingmember 30 on the bottom of the pressing plate 20 the inside of eachconcave groove 11 and presses and fixes the upper face of the root canalsealers P inserted in the lower side of each concave groove 11 as shownon an enlarged scale in FIG. 6A. This fixes the position of each rootcanal sealer P so it exposes a prescribed length in the front of thebody 10. FIG. 6A shows details of the portion circled in the lower leftof FIG. 6.

The root canal sealer P as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is obtained by holdingthe combined dental instrument 1 so that the head P' of each root canalsealer P exposed in the front of the dental instrument body 10 ispositioned on the lower side. The process further involves preparing atray T containing a given quantity of coloring ink I having a prescribedhue, soaking the head P' of root canal sealer P exposed in the front ofthe dental instrument body 10 in the ink, and then taking it outtherefrom so that the dimension discriminating part in a required hue isformed at each head P'.

The root canal sealer P of the invention indicates the dimension of eachroot canal sealer P by forming a color portion C having a hue requiredfor indicating the dimension directly at the head P' of the sealer P tobe gripped by an operating such as pincers, etc., root canal sealingtreatment of a tooth. This makes it possible to determine easily andexactly the dimension of each root canal sealer P, and to distinguish iteasily even if it is mixed with those of different dimensions in thecourse of handling and operation of the root canal sealers P.Accordingly it allows one to use exactly the root canal sealers ofrequired size. Therefore, it is also possible to eliminate all thepost-treatment impeditive factors incidental to a use of the root canalsealers of improper dimensions, and to carry out a perfect and tightsealing.

Furthermore, the colored part C of the root canal sealer P according tothe invention is formed over a uniform length and a limit of length(approximately 3 mm) exposed in the front of the dental instrument body10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, since the range to be using each rootcanal sealer P is no more than about 16 mm from the front end of eachroot canal sealer, no problem is posed in using the coloring part C forcoloring the head P' of the root canal sealer P directly.

The front end of the pincers, etc. may be put in through the verticalgroove 13 formed in the rear of the dental instrument body 10. Hence theroot canal sealer concerned may be taken out or put in easily if thecoloring is wrong or products are made poorly.

FIGS. 7 to 9 show conditions for maintaining thus colored and dried rootcanal sealers P before they are put by dimension in a packing box orvessel. For safekeeping of such sealers, the front side of the body 10is lifted slightly to cover a pressing plate 20 mounted on the upperface of the dental instrument body 10. This is done such that thecolored head P' of each root canal sealer P is pushed into each concavegroove 11, and the pressing plate 20 of its upper part is separated tomake each root canal sealer P lie on the inside of the vertical groove14 formed in the front of the dental instrument body 10. Then eachinsert projection 17 and vertical projection 18 formed on the bottom ofthe upper dental instrument body 10', 10" and 10"' are engaged with eachinsert groove 16 and vertical groove 14 of its lower dental instrumentbody 10, 10' and 10" by continuously laminating the second and thirddental instrument body 10', 10", 10"' on the upper part of the dentalinstrument body 10, so that a number of dental instrumental bodies 10containing a given number of root canal sealers P may be kept simply andstably.

As described above, making the dimension of root canal sealer andcleaner to easily visible with naked eye involves coloring the head ofeach dental root canal sealer and cleaner having a slight difference insize with a prescribed hue. The invention makes the head of each rootcanal sealer and cleaner to be colored through a simple coloring processusing a dental instrument body of a simple structure in which a certainnumber of root canal sealers and cleaners can be arranged and contained,and a pressing plate covered on the upper part of the dental instrumentbody. At the same time it makes each root canal sealer and cleanersafely. The invention has the effect of allowing a colored part having auniform length to be formed easily at the head of each root canal sealerand cleaner. The quantity of such root canal sealers and cleaners can becalculated exactly, and lots of root canal sealers and cleaners can behandled and managed simply and safely.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for forming a dimension discriminatingpart of a dental root canal sealer comprising steps of: preparing a rootcanal sealer in such a manner that a certain number of root canalsealers are received in the concave grooves of a dental instrument body,and the head of each root canal sealer is positioned on the front sideof the dental instrument body; arranging the root canal sealers in sucha manner that the front part of said dental instrument body is contactedwith a stopper block provided with a stepped jaw, and the head of eachroot canal sealer is exposed as much as a prescribed length toward thedental instrument body; fixing the root canal sealers in such a mannerthat a pressing plate is covered on the upper face of the dentalinstrument body, and each root canal sealer is thereby pressed and fixedby a pressing member on the bottom; and coloring in which a dimensiondiscriminating part in a certain length is formed at the head of eachroot canal sealer by soaking the head exposed toward the front in a traycontaining the coloring ink, in a state that each root canal sealer isfixed.
 2. A device for forming a dimension discriminating part of a rootcanal sealer comprising: a dental instrument body in a rectangular plateform on which many concave grooves capable, respectively, of receiving aroot canal sealer are arranged continously, and in the inside of theback end side and the front and rear sides of the body are formed anintercepting wall and a pair of vertical grooves, respectively, alongthe length direction of the body, and at both ends are formed an insertgroove and a knob, and on its bottom are formed a vertical projectionand an insert projection corresponding to the vertical groove and insertgroove; a pressing plate which is provided with a knob and a projectioncorresponding to the knob and insert prjection of the said dentalinstrument body and is thereby covered on the upper part of said dentalinstrument body; and a pressing member attached to the bottom of saidpressing plate, for pressing and fixing the root canal sealer arrangedin the concave groove of the dental instrument body when the pressingplate is covered on the dental instrument body.